This year, teams were asked to imagine the newly elected president has named your iOme Team as members of the Task Force for the Financial Security of Millennials (TFFSM). The President believes that Millennials face some unique financial challenges. And that addressing the financial concerns of Millennials will have substantial economic impact for the future of the Millennial Generation. Two of the major financial challenges that face Millennials are substantial college debt and the lack of saving for retirement. These two challenges are naturally linked to one another. Paying off large college indebtedness means those funds cannot be set aside for retirement. Teams were asked to develop a policy proposal that will solve or ease the burden of college debt for Millennials. If the college debt burden is eased, what incentives can be developed to ensure that the money saved can be channeled into savings for retirement? The policy proposal links these two financial challenges and provides solutions for both.

Winners

The winner of the 2015-2016 Challenge is a team from Michigan Technological University. Undergraduate student Jerrid Burdue wrote an insightful essay focused on federal government proposals related to education requirements, the myRA program, Social Security taxes and the Saver’s Credit. Professor Emanuel Oliveira served as Jerrid’s faculty advisor.

This year, we asked teams to imagine their selection by the President-Elect to serve as the Council of Economic Advisors (CEA). The President-Elect informs the CEA of the great concern over the future challenges of the U.S. private retirement system. The CEA was asked to reimagine the private retirement system to accommodate the needs of workers in traditional work arrangements as well as the changes in the work-life patterns of the Millennial generations so they can be confident of a financially secure retirement. The President-Elect’s charge was to prepare a policy proposal that would be introduced in Congress in January, 2017. The President-Elect also asked the CEA to create a video that could be used to help market and sell the policy proposal.

Winners

The winner of the 2014-2015 Challenge was a team from Northeastern University. Undergrad students Aaron Kanzer (team leader), Vincent Armentano, Alexander Arnst, Ahmed El-Ghazouani, Dylan Kelly, Ben Klepper, Stephen Ngo, Manish Samala, Steven Siano, and Emily Weis worked together to win this year’s competition and showcase the landscape of retirement preparedness among the states in the union. Prof. Nancy Kimelman served as the team’s faculty advisor.

This year, teams were asked to play out a scenario in which they were commissioned by the National Governors Association (NGA) to write a policy advisory paper and prepare a video addressing the preparedness of states for the future retirement challenges of the Millennial generation. The NGA asked them to develop a system for ranking the 50 states, from those most to least prepared to handle the retirement of the Millennial Generation. Millennials will begin retiring as early as 2040. It was up to the teams which indicators to use in developing the ranking system. They were encouraged to be creative and come up with ideas that might challenge status quo thinking. The ranking system was supposed to be based on statistical indicators that can be tracked over time and across states.

Specifically, they were asked to answer:

1. How do states rank in preparing the Millennial generation for retirement in 2040?

2. Where does your state rank compared to other states?

3. What state policy recommendations would you include in your advisory to the NGA to improve the ranking of your state or of states that rank low?

Their questions had to be backed up by solid research and/or model programs. And the video was meant to serve as a PSA promoting the answers among the Millennial Generation.

Special Recognitions

In addition to the main winner, the judges decided to recognize several other teams for their video submissions.

University of Missouri – Columbia:

University of Nevada – Reno:

University of Tennessee – Knoxville:

Winners

The winner of the 2013-2014 Challenge was a team from Texas Tech University. Graduate students Patrick Payne (team leader), Tao Guo, and Nhat Hoang Ho worked together to win this year’s competition and walk in the footsteps of their colleagues from Texas Tech who won the 2010-2011 iOme Challenge. Dr. Sandra Huston served as the team’s faculty advisor.

This year, teams were asked to play out a scenario in which they served as President Obama’s appointees to the Presidential Commission on Financial Literacy and Security (PCFLS), charged with answering a three-part question:

(1) How different would America look today if the “baby boom” generation saved/invested sufficiently to have a secure retirement income;

(2) what investment vehicles could the private and public sectors create to provide sufficient incentives for adequate savings/investments in order to not have to ask this same question 40 years from now; and

(3) what kind of an educational program could be launched on colleges campuses in order to educate your peers on the value of saving/investing specifically, and financial literacy, in general.

Their questions had to be backed up by solid research and/or model programs. And the video was meant to serve as a PSA promoting the answers among the Millennial Generation.

Additionally, the judges awarded a Video Recognition to students Ben Campbell (team leader), Mike Lambert, Trevor Sharp, Kellen Leavitt, and Nathan Dalley and their Faculty Advisor Hyrum Smith who made up the team from Utah Valley University for their superb PSA on retirement:

Winners

The winner of the 2012-2013 Challenge was a team from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. Jessica Nichole Tenbroeck (team leader), Davis Fry, Jonathan Sessions, Chelsea Padgham, Kayla McMurry, Thea Aub and Margaret Ross collaborated to win our national retirement-preparedness competition for college students. Dr. Ken Baker served as the team’s faculty adviser.

This year, teams participating in the challenge were asked to imagine they were serving as President Obama’s council of economic advisers and to develop a policy proposal to be introduced in Congress in January 2013 that would create incentives and remove barriers to financial savings for the millennial generation. Teams were also required to submit a short video that would help sell their plan to the Millennials, the public and the members of Congress.

Bentley University:

John Brown University:

University of Hartford:

University of Nevada at Las Vegas:

Winners

The winner of the 2011-2012 Challenge was a team from Virginia Tech University. Students Allison Perdue (team leader), Paula Craun, Jamie Kerr and Matt Maranowski collaborated on the winning entry, earning $10,000 plus an expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C., to present their entry to members of Congress. Virginia Tech professor Hyrum Smith served as the team’s faculty advisor.

This year, students were asked to write a paper and produce a video answering the following question: Why do people today feel it is much harder to engage in financial savings than earlier generations when, on average, the earlier generations were much poorer than today? What would you propose as a solution to change and increase savings rates?

iOme also awarded two Honorable Mentions, to the University of Maryland Baltimore County and Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Mich.

Winners

The winner of the 2010-2011 Challenge was a team from Texas Tech University. Students Benjamin Cummings (team leader), Christopher Browning, Thomas O’Malley, and Shaun Pfeiffer collaborated to win the top, national prize. Professor Michael Finke served as the faculty advisor.

Teams were asked to write an essay outlining three significant differences that will exist in the U.S. economy 40 years from now – provided the U.S. personal saving rate is sustained at 6% versus the lower prevailing savings rates of the last decade. They were also required to submit a short video that depicts American life 40 years from now if Americans do not begin to save enough.

Judges also awarded first runner up to a team from the University of Nevada – Reno (UNR) and an honorable mention to LaGrange College.

Winners

People complain that their representatives don’t listen to them. Ask four Western Michigan University students if they agree. With an unwavering support from their professor — Brad Kent, Ashley Horvat, Lauren Hearit, and Sam Demorest participated in a national contest, answered a question, won $25,000 and traveled to Washington, D.C. to share their findings.

Yes, this is a true story. In the summer of 2009, a group of concerned citizens from Green Bay, Wis., with the support from various local organizations, gathered to discuss how they might engage the so-called Y or Millennial generation to think about their own future, 40 years from now.

The first runner-up in the first annual competition was the team from Texas Tech University, while the team from Wisconsin’s St. Norbert College received honorable mention. Three additional schools were named finalists: Harvard University, Saint Louis University, and New York’s LaGuardia Community College.

The iOme Challenge is a project of the Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement (WISER).

The iOme Challenge is a project of the Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement (WISER).